"We are the only country in history that ever deliberately changed its ethnic makeup, and history has few examples of 'diversity' creating a stable society." - Richard Lamm, former governor of Colorado

Friday, June 01, 2007

A 27-year veteran of the Miami-Dade Police Department has been arrested after being charged with animal cruelty and an offense against a police dog

Sgt. Allen Cockfield turned himself in Wednesday afternoon to investigators at the Turner-Gilford Knight Correctional Center after an arrest warrant was issued by the State Attorney's office.

The charges stem from an incident in which a 4-year-old K-9 named "Duke" collapsed on June 7, 2006, during training. The German Shepherd was rushed to Knowles Animal Clinic, where he later died.

A source told Local 10 that Duke had barked when he wasn't supposed to during a training exercise at the Miami Dade Training Bureau. He was participating in training with the rest of the K-9 unit. The source said that after Duke barked, Cockfield "lost it" and kicked the dog several times.

Cockfield shook the dog, and when he realized the dog was unconscious, he rushed him to the clinic, according to the source. Cockfield had been a K-9 officer for 25 years and had no record of any problems, Local 10 reported.

The officer has been on administrative duty with pay since the investigation began.